While COVID-19 cases fall in some European countries, others fear a fourth wave of infections is underway.
Cases in the Netherlands have fallen by 44% compared to last week, according to the National Institute for Public Health.
In total, just over 21,000 people tested positive, while last week’s number was up to 37,000. This follows the ramping up of restrictive health measures, just weeks after they were lifted.
“We believe the peak has been reached or will be reached very soon. We will see a decrease in the number of hospital admissions soon as well… We know that the number of hospital admissions always lags behind the trend we see in positive tests. This is in accordance with what we expected,” Susan van den Hof, from the Dutch Institute for Public Health.
Facemasks remain in place in the UK
The UK has also reported decreasing figures when it comes to new infections.
COVID-19 cases fell by a third in the final week of July, despite England dropping most of its restrictions. Scotland is expected to follow suit on Monday.
But a number of mitigating measures, including the wearing of face masks, are expected to remain in place.
Italy’s push for vaccinations despite hacked IT systems
In Italy, one region has vowed to press ahead with vaccinations even as their IT system were hacked.
Regional authorities in Lazio have said it was temporarily impossible for residents to sign up to receive a dose of the vaccine. But they insisted that those scheduled to receive their jabs would still be able to get the injection.
In total, 60% of Italians have already been vaccinated.
Fourth wave underway in Romania
Romanian doctors, meanwhile, warned authorities about an impending fourth wave of infections: 230 new cases were recorded on Monday, most of them in Bucharest.
This is the highest number of cases recorded in 24 hours in the past two months. Most infected people are those who did not get vaccinated against the virus.
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